Three people were found dead and three others were in a critical condition after inhaling a noxious gas in their home.
|||Cape Town - Three people were found dead and three others were in a critical condition after inhaling a noxious gas in their Grassy Park home on Monday.
The family of six were discovered by the boyfriend of the eldest daughter, Chandre Manuel, when he panicked after he could not contact her. The father, Keanan Manuel, and his two youngest children, aged six and nine, were declared dead at the scene.
Mother Deborah Manuel, Chandré and Chandré’s two-year-old son were taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Deborah’s sister, Marlene Walton, was hysterical after finding out about what happened to her sister’s family. Her cousin and SAPS officers tried to console her.
Provincial police spokesman André Traut said that the circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated and inquest dockets had been opened. While police could not confirm a gas leak, emergency paramedics said they believed this had caused the deaths.
The bodies were discovered shortly after 1pm on Tuesday in their backyard house in Diaz Street by Chandré’s boyfriend, known only as Warren, who went to the house. He raised the alarm.
Haniyah Martin and her partner, Yazeed Van der Merwe, who were among the first to arrive at the Manuel home, said they found Keanan, 54, and Ashley, nine, lying on the floor, Chandre, 21, on one bed and Deborah and the two younger children - Caitlyn, six, and Jordan, two - on the other.
The room was untidy, blinds were broken and there was a mouldy smell.
Martin said: “We tried CPR on the three who were alive and tried resuscitating them.”
The couple called the ambulance, and while they waited for it to arrive they carried the bodies outdoors, still trying to revive them.
ER24 spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson said all the family were unresponsive when found. The father and two children could not be resuscitated and were declared dead on the scene.
Van der Merwe said there were two gas cylinders in the room, one in the bedroom and the other in the kitchen. The bedroom gas cylinder was closed, but a fire services official told him the kitchen gas cylinder was open but empty.
“I didn’t smell any gas when I was there, just the mouldy smell.”
An emotional neighbour, Veronica du Plessis, said she had noticed a gas smell on Sunday.
“I thought it was from the welding business across the street. When my son got home from work I asked him to check the wires, but he said it was gas.”
Sobbing, she added: “I’m upset that it was on my doorstep and I didn’t do anything. I could’ve helped save them.”
Neighbours described the family as quiet.
Chandre and her mother were taken to Victoria Hospital, Jordan to Red Cross Children’s hospital.
“They were placed on life support and handed to the hospital staff in critical condition,” Jackson said.
zodidi.dano@inl.co.za and natasha.prince@inl.co.za
Cape Argus